Team ConnectionsDoc Rivers played for San Antonio during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasonsAvery Bradley and Cory Joseph both attended TexasKris Joseph and Cory Joseph were both born in CanadaFab Melo, Leandro Barbosa and Tiago Splitter were born in BrazilRajon Rondo and Stephen Jackson both attended Oak Hill AcademyJason Terry was teammates with Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson in Atlanta during the 2003-04 seasonBoris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa were teammates in Phoenix from 2005-09.

Key Matchups vsRajon Rondo vs Tony Parker When Rondo is aggressive and focused, he can pretty much take on any point guard in the league, including Parker. Rondo usually gets up for big games and this is a big one. Hopefully aggressive Rondo shows up for this one.

vsBrandon Bass vs Tim Duncan Brandon will have his hands full in this matchup. Duncan still brings a lot to the table, especially defensively. He is great at getting position for rebounds and tip ins and Bass and the other Celtics bigs need to concentrate on keeping him away from the basket.

Honorable Mention Jason Terry vs Danny Green JET gives up 4 inches to Green, who has been playing well. Green has been shooting 45.7% from beyond the arc and so Jet needs to stay with him on the perimeter.

Game Notes The Celtics try to rebound from their worst loss of the season as they host the surging San Antonio Spurs. The Celtics should be rested coming into this game as they have had off since Sunday. The Spurs played on Monday when they lost to the Clippers at home 92-87.

The Spurs are a good road team with a 4-1 record away from home. The Celtics are looking to establish home dominance this season, but so far are just 3-2 at the Garden. The Celtics are coming off their worst loss of the season, a very lackluster effort against the Pistons who to that point were just 1-9. the Spurs are coming off a loss at home to the Clippers. Both teams will be looking to get back into the win column in this game.

The Celtics faced the Spurs just one time last season, an 87-86 loss at the TD Garden. Paul Pierce missed a jumper at the buzzer that would have been the game winner had it gone. That loss ended a 5 game win streak for the Celtics. This is the first game of a 6 game in 9 days road trip for the Spurs and they will want to get off to a good start.

The game will feature two future hall of fame big men in Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan. Both have re-signed at a bargain with their teams in hopes of winning another championship before they hang up their sneakers. Which future Hall of Famer will get a win for their team?

It also features a matchup of two of the top point guards in the league. Both are quick and both are competitive and it should be a fun matchup to watch. A third matchup to watch will be Paul Pierce and Stephen Jackson. Both tend to be physical and both will do whatever it takes to get the advantage. Watch for these two competitors to get under each others' skin as has happened many times in the past.

The Spurs are thin at small forward with Kawhi Leonard already out with a knee injury, Stephen Jackson broke his finger in their loss to the Clippers on Monday and will also be out. Their game notes have the small forward spot blank so I'm not sure who they will start there. I'm putting Gary Neal there just on a guess since he has previously started for them. But that's just a guess. The Spurs signed free agent guard James Anderson today but it's not clear whether he will be with the team tonight or not.

The Celtics need to bounce back from the drubbing in Detroit and get back on the winning track. If they play their game and come in focused, I have no doubt that they can win this game.

Keys to the Game Defense - The Celtics must make defense a priority in this game. The Spurs are a good offensive team, ranking 11th in the league and averaging 99.9 points per game The Celtics are 17th in scoring, averaging 96.9 points per game. Both teams have slipped a bit on defense with the Spurs allowing and 44% FG%. The Celtics have slipped even more, allowing teams to shoot 45% against them and are giving up 98.1 points per game. The Celtics must lock down the Spurs on defense because chances are, they won't win a shoot out against them.

Focus - With the Spurs in town, the Celtics must keep their focus from the opening tip to the final buzzer. The Spurs are very capable of taking advantage of any lack of focus on the Celtics part. The Celtics need to put in a strong effort for 48 minutes. The Spurs won't let up and neither can the Celtics if they want to win this one. Rebound Neither team has been rebounding the ball as well as they should. The Spurs are 25th in the league with 39.9 rebounds per game. The Celtics are still last with 36.8 rebounds per game. Rebounding is all about effort and desire. The Celtics need to crash the boards as a team and if they put out the effort in this area, it will translate to the rest of their game. The Celtics must find a way to fix their rebounding problems if they want to win a championship this season.

Be Aggressive When the Celtics are aggressive in going after loose balls, taking the ball to the hoop and playing in your face defense, they are very tough to beat. When they get lazy and allow teams to beat them to loose balls and rebounds and when they settle for jumpers and don't go to the basket, they are very beatable. They must stay aggressive and that starts with Rondo. Hopefully he comes out aggressively in this game. Bench Play - The second unit must come through for the Celtics. They need quality minutes from Jeff Green and Courtney Lee especially. Both have been inconsistent and they need to come through with a big game in this one. Jared Sullinger, Chris Wilcox and Leandro Barbosa have been more consistent and the Celtics need them to continue to play well. X-FactorFocus and Aggressiveness The Celtics need to come out focused in this one and be the aggressors. If they are tentative and flustered like they were against the Pistons, this could be a very long night.

I just read that Stephen Jackson broke his finger in last night's game and will be out for this one. I haven't read who they plan to start so will wait to change the lineup but it could be Ginobili, Bonner, or maybe Neal.

I just read that Stephen Jackson broke his finger in last night's game and will be out for this one. I haven't read who they plan to start so will wait to change the lineup but it could be Ginobili, Bonner, or maybe Neal.

Well we should see a ton of Kawhi Leonard in this game. Paul Pierce is going to have his hands full.

I would like to see J.Green and Pierce in the lineup together frequently; I'm hoping that would force G-Pop to roll Leonard onto J.Green and force someone like Danny Green to check PP. Problem is i'm not sure Popovich is scared enough of a Jeff Green v. Danny Green defensive "mismatch." I wouldn't blame him.

Hopefully we'll also continue to see a ton of P&R play between Rondo and KG/Wilcox. Between Duncan/Blair/Diaw/Bonner Rondo should be able to continue working that P&R lob play with little interferance.